CMA's Health Law Library updated with 2018 content CMA On-Call—the California Medical Association (CMA) online health law library—has been updated with 2018 content. One of CMA's most valuable member benefits, the health law library contains nearly 5,000 pages of up-to-date legal information on a variety of subjects of everyday importance to practicing physicians. The searchable online library contains all the information available in the California Physician's Legal Handbook (CPLH), an annual publication from CMA's Center for Legal Affairs. Recently updated documents of particular interest include: MACRA Overview (#7210) Billing Limitations and Private ... July 11, 2018 CMA California Physician's Legal Handbook, CMA On-Call, CPLH, Health Law Library 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA On-Call: Retention of Medical Records California regulations regarding retention of medical records in a physician’s office are a perennial hot topic in the California Medical Association (CMA) On-Call health law library. To ensure physicians understand their rights and obligations under the law, CMA published On-Call document #4005, “Retention of Medical Records,” which discusses major issues raised by the retention, abandonment, theft and destruction of medical or health insurance information and physician practice business records. Issues covered include statutory record retention requirements, the rules applicable to records abandoned in bankruptcy or otherwise, recommended retention periods, ... January 30, 2018 CMA, General CMA On-Call, CPLH, Medical Records 0 0 Comment Read More »
HHS modifies HIPAA Privacy Rule as part of executive actions to curb gun violence Last week, the Obama Administration unveiled a number of executive actions to address gun violence in the United States, including an amendment to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that would make it easier for mental health providers to disclose the identities of individuals who are disqualified from shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving a firearm. Both the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and the Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibit gun ownership and gun sales to individuals that have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution ... January 15, 2016 General Guns, HIPAA, HIPAA Privacy Rule, Mental Health, Public Health, CPLH 0 0 Comment Read More »
Physicians warned of identity theft tax scam For a second year, the California Medical Association (CMA) has received reports from physicians that fraudulent federal income tax returns have been filed using physician names, addresses and social security numbers. In many cases the fraudulent tax return includes the name of an unknown person listed as the physician's spouse. Generally, this other name is a prior patient of the physician. Affected physicians are likely to learn of the scam by receiving a 5071C letter from the IRS alerting them of possible fraud. Physicians may also have received a rejection ... April 29, 2015 General CPLH, Identity Theft, Legal Advocacy, Tax, California Physician Legal Handbook 0 0 Comment Read More »
Congress passes Medicare payment reform and eliminates SGR Last week, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2 with a 92-to-8 vote, which will completely overhaul the Medicare payment program. This move, which follows the U.S. House of Representatives’ near-unanimous vote two weeks ago, is a monumental, bipartisan action taken by Congress that negates the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). President Obama signed it into law on April 16. The California Medical Association (CMA), along with the American Medical Association (AMA) and other health care organizations, have been fighting to ... April 23, 2015 Medicare Advocacy, CPLH, Medicare, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate, California Physician's Legal Handbook 0 0 Comment Read More »
Preorder the 2015 California Physician's Legal Handbook by April 15 and save 10% The California Medical Association (CMA) Center for Legal Affairs is happy to announce the upcoming release of the updated California Physician's Legal Handbook (CPLH) for 2015. CPLH is the premier California health law publication with 46 chapters of comprehensive legal information, including current laws, regulations and court decisions related to the practice of medicine. CPLH, available in a multi-volume print format, as an online subscription or a combination of print/online, is updated annually by CMA attorneys to include the most recent changes in health law. CPLH 2015 includes new and ... March 19, 2015 General CPLH, California Physician's Legal Handbook 0 0 Comment Read More »
